Confab to attract US investors
A second annual conference to attract U.S. investor to Sri Lanka will
be held in Colombo from October 12 to 14 giving business executives a
chance to meet with government officials to discuss the possibilities of
expanding U.S. businesses in Sri Lanka.
The conference is organised by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in
Washington, D.C. and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S.
Department of Commerce, U.S. Embassy in Colombo and the Sri Lanka Trade
Ministry.
"Our first conference last year gave people a good look at Sri Lanka,
and the potential for businesses there," said Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri
Lanka's ambassador to the United States. "Now some of those businesses
are planning to begin operations in Sri Lanka. We want to make sure that
business people know the advantages of investing here."
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during a visit to the United
Nations last week, met with U.S. investors during a business development
luncheon.
The President met with each of the 150 luncheon guests, and External
Affairs Minister Prof G.L. Peiris, described the advantages that U.S.
companies enjoy by investing in Sri Lanka.
Those benefits include Sri Lanka's free trade agreements with India
and Pakistan that gives U.S. businesses duty-free access to those large
markets, as well as relaxed foreign investment regulations to help renew
its economy, which grew at nearly eight percent during the first half of
2010.
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